I Promise
by Pengping
Summary: Pre-Avengers. First story of my Avengers arc. Loki has fallen ill and Thor refuses to leave his side. Worried about his little brother he makes a promise to him, but finds that in the future when Loki truly needs him, he fails and Loki falls off the Bifrost. Thor's regret after Loki's "death." Takes place from the end of Thor (2011) to the Avengers (2012) movie.
1. Sick

With mechanical motion Thor soaked the washcloth in the bowl of cool water, squeezed it out, and set it on Loki's forehead. Loki slept on, oblivious to Thor's tending. His breathing was raspy and his cheeks were flushed from a fever that refused to break. It had been three days since Loki had woken up last and Thor counted those days among some of the longest he'd been through. If the fever didn't break soon there was a chance it never would, a chance that would just keep increasing.

Five days ago at breakfast, Loki had told Thor that he hadn't felt so good and had gone back to his room to lie down. When he didn't show up for lunch, Thor had gone up to Loki's room to check in on him and found his little brother passed out on the floor. He had been burning up from a fever, and his heartbeat unnaturally fast.

Thor had carried Loki to the Healer's Ward, but the diagnosis given by Eir was not clear. It was obvious that Loki was sick, but it wasn't a virus or a genetic anomaly like the one that had left Hodr blind. Loki's sickness didn't even appear to be Asgardian in origin.

A few days ago, Thor had had the brilliant idea to drag his friends with him and sneak onto Jötunnheim to see the Jötunn monsters in person. It had ended with the children caught by a Jötunn hunting party and brought before Laufey. They had been stuck in Laufey's dungeon until Odin had come and returned one of Laufey's artifacts that had been taken at the end of the Ice War with them, the Icefall Jewel, a powerful gem which drew its power from the Casket of Ancient Winters and amplified, for the children's release.

Eir assumed that Loki had gotten sick there, and since Loki was the only one out of Thor's party to get sick his magic must have made him vulnerable to the illness as it sometimes did. He had been there for a few days and slipped into his current coma, unable to be awakened. When that had happened Eir had allowed Loki to be moved back to his room. Because Loki was a mage, his room was saturated with his own magic, and being exposed to it might be able to do something to help bring Loki around.

Thor hadn't left his side since, and had even been excused from his lessons with his tutor Hárekr. It had been Thor's idiotic idea for a group of six children barely five centuries old to sneak to Jötunnheim on their own without telling _anyone_ where they were going. If Loki was sick because of the trip, then it was Thor's fault.

He patiently spooned a broth Fey had made to Loki so he wouldn't bet dehydrated as he slept, and after a few spoonful's he cleaned the soup that had spilled from Loki's chin. Loki turned in his sleep, interrupted Thor's attempt to feed him, and shivered from the chills he had. Thor set the broth aside since there was no way he could feed Loki while he was rolled over facing the wall his bed was pushed up against, and fixed his blanket so it back under his brother's chin.

Thor rubbed his eyes after he did that and ate some of the food that had been left for him to try and wake himself up. Frigga had come in and relieved Thor a few times so Thor could sleep, as had Loki's closest friend, Angborn, or another of Loki's group of friends, but Odin had yet to show up and check on him. Thor didn't understand why not.

His mother said that it was because even with a son sick he was still busy being Allfather and was making sure that there wouldn't be any more fallout from their trip to Jötunnheim. He wasn't sure he could accept what his mother said though since he could remember Odin coming and looking in on him while he was sick before. Why wasn't he checking in on Loki?

"No," Loki whispered, features creased with pain.

Thor sat straight when Loki said something in surprise, and set his plate back on the tray that was magically hovering beside Loki's nightstand. Loki often had nightmares, and Thor assumed he was having yet another. He had still said something, and that was good since Eir had been worried that the way the fever was progressing it might start to damage his mind.

"Loki," Thor whispered and leaned closer to his brother as if hopeful his voice would reach Loki. "Loki it's all right. You're fine. It's me, Thor."

Suddenly Loki's eyes snapped open and he shoved Thor back. Thor, not at all expecting that, fell out of the chair he had pulled next to Loki's bed. Instantly he was back on his feet and standing.

"Brother!" He said excitedly.

Loki was breathing hard and emerald eyes clouded with fear, but he was sitting up in bed and he was awake. He looked around his room, and eventually his gaze fell on Thor's hopeful, ecstatic look. Dear faded and was replaced by recognition.

"Thor?" Loki whispered hoarsely.

"Yes," Thor smiled brightly, "are you feeling better?"

He moved the washcloth that had been on Loki's forehead and had fallen onto the sheets away so he could sit next to his brother.

"How long have you been here?" Loki asked in a quiet voice and winced as he touched his throat.

"A few days," Thor shrugged, not caring that he had gotten a little behind on sleep.

He took a vial from the nightstand and held it out to Loki.

"Here, it's from the healers. This shall help your throat," he promised his brother.

Loki took the vial from Thor and held it in both hands. He lifted it to his lips and drained it. Unlike most potions that tasted like stale swamp water, this one had been sweetened with honey. Thor took it back from him and set it on the nightstand, thrilled that his brother was awake again. Mother had said that since Loki was only five centuries, the equivalent of a human twelve year old, that he would be able to shake off the sickness.

Thor put his hand on Loki's forehead as he put the vial on the nightstand, and then lowered it with a grin. "I think your fever just broke."

"I'm glad nightmares are good for _something_," Loki sighed and rolled his eyes.

Thor picked up the broth he had been feeding Loki from next as he remembered the rest of the healer's orders. "There's medicine mixed into this, and you're supposed to drink it. You're thirsty right?"

Loki nodded, and Thor passed the bowl over to him. His hands trembled as he tried to raise his hands to take the bowl, and then almost dropped it. The bowl weighed too much for him. Thor took the bowl back before Loki did drop it, stunned that Loki couldn't support its weight, and Loki lowered his head. Mother had said Loki would be weak from being ill for so long, but Thor had only seen Loki this weak a handful of times and it scared him a little.

"It's half empty," Loki whispered and glanced at the bowl without really looking up.

"I've been feeding you," Thor smiled softly. "Here."

Thor spooned up the broth and held the spoon up to Loki's mouth. Loki let Thor feed him a few spoonful's of the broth, but he clenched the sheets in his hand as he ate. It was a small movement Thor noticed, and Thor smiled at Loki confidently.

"Don't worry," he assured his brother. "You'll get stronger again really quick."

Loki raised his eyes from the sheets to Thor finally, and Thor smiled. Thor was no telepath, but he didn't need to be to tell what Loki was thinking. Although Loki was the younger brother and Thor had always been told to protect him, he knew Loki didn't need much protecting. He was much stronger than most people believed, and the surest proof was that he was the one who had managed to harness the Tesseract's power, _twice_, without being vaporized by it as any other mortal would be.

Loki was the one who had snuck aboard a Dark Elven warship after it had been rebuilt by a group of terrorists, knowing that he needed to sabotage it. When Asgard had been attacked by a shadow mage who had wielded a golden scepter tipped with a blue jewel, Loki had been the one to tear the scepter from their hands and used it against them. To stop the serial killer, nicknamed the Cadet Killer, from killing children Loki had disguised himself as a cadet and allowed the serial killer to capture him so they could find out who he was.

"If anyone is weak around here brother," Thor smiled as he remembered just a few of the events that had happened this past year, "it's not you."

Loki hummed, but didn't verbally reply. Was he thinking about everything that had happened this past year and his role in them? Thor hoped he was because then he would agree that he was no weakling, and no disgrace to the royal family as some said he was.

"Your body has just used up its energy fighting off the virus," Thor kept talking. "If your fever broke then that means your body has defeated it, so your body can focus on getting strong again. Besides, I'm here and I won't go anywhere until you're back to your old self."

"Promise?" Loki asked suddenly and strongly, looking up at Thor.

Thor was surprised by Loki's sudden assertiveness, and Loki must have been to because he looked back down. The fever had left his cheeks flushed, so Thor couldn't tell if he was blushing or not. From the way Loki looked away and clenched the sheets again he seemed embarrassed.

Thor smiled and reached out, setting his hand on Loki's shoulder. "Of course Loki. You're my little brother and I'll stay by your side as long as you want. I'll never let anything happen to you. I promise."

* * *

That was the memory that flashed before Thor's eyes as he hung upside down on the end of the Bifrost he had just destroyed. All he could do was watch as Loki let go of Gungnir, and fell into the void.

"NO!"

* * *

**This is a the end of the _Thor_ (2011) Movie when Loki lets himself fall, and flashback of Loki being sick is what Thor remembers as Loki falls. Thor promised he'd never let anything happen to Loki, and then the events of the _Thor _movie happen.**

**Some brothers tolerate each other, others hate each other, and although Thor and Loki were complete opposites they were inseparable as children. Loki drifted away from Thor, but Thor's loyalty to Loki never wavered. There is no way for someone to realize how badly Thor was hurt by seeing Loki fall and realizing that he had broken his promise and failed his little brother.**

**This story is only four chapters long and is sort of a long prologue that introduces you to my universe. It's told from Thor's POV only, and sets up the scene for the next story after this. ****Thor, Loki, their parents, and Thor's friends are not the only beings in the nine realms in my fanfics so there are OC's coming up in later chapters. Yes, that year was an insane one, and events about it are being told my Pre-Thor arc. For info about Loki using the Tesseract got to _"A Different Kind of Courage."_**


	2. My Fault

Thor stood in his bathroom in front of the sink, looking at the mirror. Two months. It had been two months since his brother had died. It barely seemed like yesterday that he had failed to protect his brother and lost him. Loki…

Finally he walked away from the mirror as if he couldn't stand to see himself and went into his bedroom, rubbing his hair with a towel to dry it after his bath. He needed to go to bed and try to get some sleep. Ever since Loki had died he had had trouble sleeping, so Thor knew he probably wouldn't get any sleep tonight either. Sighing, he tossed his towel to one side and pulled back the sheets to his bed.

He could do little more than stare at the ceiling once he got to bed, but it didn't surprise him. Suddenly though, he was asleep. It was weird. All around him was gray mist that suddenly solidified, revealing that he was standing in the hallway of a starship. Thor had seen a Dark Elf starship as a child and been aboard one of their space stations, but this ship didn't look at all like the Dökkálfr's.

Where the metal was black on a Dökkálfr starship this was violet. There were black highlights where a Dökkálfr ship had blue, and the lights were black instead of dim red. Thor was no mage, but he was a sensitive and his sense of touch was able to detect different types of magic. The magic of this ship was wrong somehow, and it _scared_ Thor.

Suddenly he heard running steps approaching him and Thor warily reached out for Mjolnir to answer him. It didn't come to Thor's hand, and Thor couldn't even sense its presence. His unease grew and he saw a figure approaching him as it ran down the hallway. He thought he was going to be attacked, but fell out of his fighting stance when the person drew close enough that Thor saw who it was.

"Loki?" Thor whispered in shock.

Loki ran towards him, bare feet quiet on the metal floor, and the smile that had been growing on Thor's face turned to horror when he got a closer look at his little brother. He was injured, and it wasn't just a black eye or a bruise on his cheek as Thor usually had from brawling. His little brother's injuries were far more severe, and there were bruises and what looked like scratches from the claws of some predator covering his body. Burns painted Loki's skin in unnatural patterns, and Thor stepped back in horror.

It didn't look like his little brother had simply lost a brawl, which made sense because Loki hated brawling, or simply hurt himself when one of his spells he was practicing recoiled. No, it looked like he had been tortured. Loki was running, but he had an arm wrapped around his chest, and it seemed the effort of running was painful for he was limping.

Some sort of shadow materialized behind Loki, and Thor's eyes widened. "Loki, look out!"

His shout wasn't heard, reminding Thor harshly that this was just a dream. The shadow morphed and suddenly a vine-like tendril wrapped around Loki's throat, dragging him back and making him fall. Loki seemed terrified, but wasn't able to do anything as the shadow wrapped another tendril around one of his wrists and twisted. Thor flinched when he heard a snap, and at the hiss of pain from Loki as his brother cringed.

Thor tried to move towards Loki to help him, but he couldn't. He saw a glimmer of metal around Loki's throat briefly, and Thor released that the reason Loki wasn't using his magic was that it was being suppressed. Loki tried to fight back, but his injuries had weakened him and the shadow had the definite advantage.

Suddenly the shadowy blob morphed and it was no longer a tendril wrapped around a throat, but a hand. It wasn't a construct Loki was fighting, but a mage. He didn't even have his magic though!

"Let him go!" Thor shouted at the mage. "Let go of my brother!"

His voice went unheard still, and the mage the shadows clung to held up his free hand. Loki held up a hand, and the mage's sharpened fingernails tore his already tattered tunic sleeve. The injuries appeared minor, but suddenly blood poured down his wrist and fingers and Loki gasped, somehow not screaming. From the black lights reflection, Thor thought he saw a glimmer of white on Loki's injured arm and felt ill when he realized it was the bone. A single scratch had gouged Loki's arm to the bone somehow. This was the person that must have inflicted the other wounds on his brother.

Thor felt anger course through him at Loki's wounds and at the fact that he couldn't help, and shouted again, "Loki!"

He was surprised when this time Loki looked up right at him. Loki's eyes widened in horror and shock, and he mouthed Thor's name. The mage holding Loki seemed to turn towards Thor as well, and although Thor couldn't get a good look at them he felt fear run down his spine. Then the mage dropped Loki to the ground and moved a little closer towards Thor.

Thor was trembling but was not even aware of it, because all he knew was that he had gotten the mage to let go of his brother. "Leave my brother alone!"

"Thor," Loki whispered and pushed himself up with effort, "no. You can't be here, you can't."

Then he heard Loki say something Thor thought he would never hear. "Run Thor, run. You can't…"

He saw Loki cough up a large mouthful of blood when he was talking, and seeing the state of his brother steadied him. Loki had been scared when he had seen Thor because he didn't want Thor to get hurt, and he wanted Thor to leave him and run. There was no way he was leaving Loki.

The shadow seemed to look from Loki to Thor and then chuckled softly as if amused. Hearing that sound only seemed to scare Loki more, and he tried to grab the shadow as it suddenly left Loki's side and headed towards Thor. Thor made no attempt to run and went back into a fighting stance.

"No!" Loki shouted in terror at the prospect of seeing Thor get hurt.

The shadow approached Thor inhumanly fast, and then somehow Loki was between Thor and the shadow. Thor wasn't expecting Loki to appear, and saw the dead set Loki held in his eyes. He was not going to allow Thor to be injured.

"I didn't mean to drag you into this," Loki whispered, "You need to wake up though, _now_."

One of Loki's hands, cold as ever, touched Thor's and placed something in it. Then Loki shoved Thor back and crossed his arms over his face to try and block a strike from the shadow, one arm drippling steady rivulets of blood, as it struck at him. The image of the ship blurred and Thor felt himself falling back, but as he fell he saw a glimpse of the figure in the shadows that had injured Loki so grievously.

The person clawed at Loki's arm and face, and then slashed through the air as if he held an invisible sword. Although he did not touch Loki with his second blow Loki staggered as a curse hit him. Blood spurted as Loki's chest split open, as if he had been cut deeply by an invisible sword. Something warm splashed on Thor's cheek as he fell, and the scene of his brother and the mage faded into black.

"Loki!" Thor shouted and held out a hand desperately to try and stay.

Thor jerked awake instead, and fell out of bed. He lay on the floor for a minute in shock, trembling, eyes stinging, breathing wild. Slowly, Thor pushed himself up onto his knees. As he sat up he felt something in one of his hands. Loki had given him something in the dream, and Thor slowly opened his hand.

It was a charm bracelet with five charms made of carved gemstone, and Thor recognized it. There was one charm for each person she considered part of her family, plus her own. This was Tilaria's bracelet, the flashpiece she had stored her magic in so she could draw off of it later when she needed it. Tilaria Malekithdottir, one of Loki's clique of friends, and one that he had loved.

A little over 30 years ago shortly after the end of the end of the Celestial War, Loki had walked into Tilaria's room when she hadn't shown up for dinner. When he had opened the door to her room… well, it was the only time Thor had heard Loki scream. Thor had heard Loki's scream and come running, only to see the same sight he had and almost shriek himself.

Every surface of Tilaria's room had been painted in dripping red blood, and analysis showed it was all hers. A search of Asgard, and a quest by Loki as he traveled the Nine Realms turned up no trace of her alive or dead. It had been assumed that she was dead, but Loki had refused to believe it since there was no body. Her charm bracelet had been found under her bed, the clasp broke as if torn off her wrist and Loki had kept it.

In fact, Loki had likely had it when he had fallen off Bifrost two months ago. Thor knew _he_ hadn't had it, so there should be no way it was in his hand now. Unless it hadn't just been a twisted nightmare, but real life, and Loki had given Thor the bracelet.

Loki had said he hadn't mean to drag Thor into this. Had he somehow pulled Thor while he slept to him in desperation? It wasn't just a nightmare. What Thor had seen was real, and he tightened his grip on the bracelet, wishing Loki hadn't woken him up. Nightmare or not, Thor wanted to be with Loki, helping him against the mage.

If the nightmare was real though, Thor realized and slowly raised a hand to his cheek. His finger came away bloody, and it was all Thor could do to not scream himself. The nightmare had been real life, and Loki was being tortured by something.

"Loki," Thor whispered as he stared at the blood on his fingers.

A tear unexpectedly fell from Thor's eye onto his blood hand. He had failed to protect Loki, and because of his failure Loki had fallen off Bifrost. Because of Thor, Loki was being tortured by that mage. It was all Thor's fault.

* * *

**If you've seen the _Avengers_ 2012 movie then you should know where Loki is right now. Did you think he was an honored guest of the Chitauri? I find it hard to believe he would turn against the realms so easily, and if you are reading my Pre-Thor arc which details Loki growing up, up to the events of the _Thor_ movie, you'll see what I mean.**

**The cloaked mage in the shadows that attacked him... you're going to have to wait and see. Tilaria is an OC, but despite what is says here she's not actually paired off with Loki. That's mostly because of the way she vanishes, but no pairing so don't go bleh because you think OCxLoki. All of the OCxLoki I've seen is bad, so I won't repeat the mistake. **

**A sensitive in my Universe is someone who can sense magic (duh) but cannot use it themselves. Instead they're aware of its presence thorugh one of their senses: hearing, touch, or sight with sight being the rarest. ****There really aren't any sensitives for the other two senses. Those who grow up with a mage, like how Thor grew up with Loki, sometimes develop sensitivity.**

**Warning: I do fight scenes better then fluff, but things won't get much more detailed then what is above. Things are not perfect in my universe, and its not jut like oh hey, yeah, Loki's forgiven just like that. My universe is like real life where things are far from ideal happy ending. **


	3. Get Out

Thor stared dully at the ceiling of his room as he lay in bed. He watched the sun rise and the sky lighten into a bright blue. Loki had enchanted his and Thor's ceilings to show what the sky looked like out currently with a simple command of "on skyview," which was why he could see the sky lighten in bed. It was yet another night without sleeping.

The thought of Loki brought back the painful memory of Thor's failure thirteen months ago and again how he'd been unable to do anything when Loki had given him Tilaria's bracelet.

"Off skyview," he ordered.

The image of the sky rippled as if Thor had tossed a stone into a pond as it disappeared, returning to a plain ceiling. He turned over in bed as the ceiling returned to normal, not wanting to get up. He'd broken his promise to Loki when he'd let him fall. If Loki hadn't fallen then he wouldn't be in that mage's custody now. The one time Loki needed his help Thor had failed.

Eleven months ago when he'd awoken with Tilaria's bracelet in his hand and Loki's blood on his cheek he had run to tell his mother that Loki was still alive after all and that they needed to go rescue him. Frigga hadn't believed him though, and no one else had. They assumed that Thor had simply had the bracelet the whole time, and that he was just making up a fantasy where there was a chance for a happy ending. Thor hadn't believed everyone had shaken their heads and looked away, but with Bifrost destroyed there was nothing Thor could do. Loki had been on a starship, but he didn't know if it was orbiting a realm or simply hovering in space. It might not even be in the Nine Realms.

In the end, Thor had failed again. He couldn't doubt Loki was still alive, but no one would stand by him, not even his friends who said it might be for the best if Loki stayed dead. If only Loki hadn't jammed Bifrost and forced Thor to destroy it then none of this would have happened. Why had he tried to destroy Jötunnheim? Why hadn't father tried to calm Loki, and told him no Loki, an action that Thor was sure was the reason Loki had let go of Gungnir? Had Odin had even cared for Loki?

No, Thor was sure Odin hadn't. Had it been because Loki was a mage? Was it his ice magic, or the fact that he fought with daggers and not swords? Father had wanted Loki to be just like Thor but Loki had eventually given up on that possibility and had simply been his mischievous, lethal self. Thor had been happy Loki had stayed true to himself, but Odin hadn't been.

There was a crash from the room next to Thor and Thor's first irrational thought was that Loki had had a nightmare and fallen out of bed. Loki always had nightmares when he had been younger and though they had become less frequent and more manageable they had never gone away. He had scared himself out of bed before.

Thor sat up in bed and narrowed his eyes. Loki wasn't here anymore though, so who was in his room? He got out of bed and picked up the sword Loki had made for him that he had set on his desk and spent hours staring at. With a soft click and hiss of metal he drew it from its scabbard.

Barefoot, he padded to Loki's room on the stone hallway. The door to Loki's room was open here Thor had left it closed, and Thor tightened his grip on the sword's hilt. He thought about summoning Mjolnir, but decided that he should be able to deal with a few intruders just fine.

What if it was Loki? The thought made Thor freeze beside the door. What if Loki had managed to escape and come home? Had that crash been from him? Thor allowed himself to hope for a moment before he heard several voices from within the room that weren't Loki, alerting him that it was intruders?

"Don't kill it!" One of the intruders hissed loudly.

"Or what?" A second demanded. "The bratty raven prince isn't here!"

Thor shoved the door open when he heard the words, sword held ready to strike at the unwelcome guests. Raven prince had been an insulting nickname that had been tagged to the darker, moodier prince of Asgard by others. Loki had thought it such an accurate description of himself that he had made the raven his symbol.

Within Loki's room were three Star Guard. One of them had his sword drawn, but a second was holding him back. A third was reaching for three bags cautiously as if worried they might explode. The black-scaled cobra sitting on those three bags puffed up his hood further at the intruders and hissed a warning. When that didn't deter the Æsir reaching, it whipped its tail and cracked him on the hand. That made him fall back with a terrified look as the cobra snapped at the air.

"What are you doing?" Thor demanded them.

All three jumped and turned to face him with an almost guilty look. The cobra glared at Thor with a _'__you-better-help'_ expression.

"Slítas," Thor greeted the green-eyed cobra calmly without lowering his sword.

Slítas, Loki's pet cobra, bobbed its head at Thor in greeting. The three ice-like crystals that grew from the outer corner of each of his eyes changed color according to his mood, and right now they were red in anger. Asgardians called his species a Whipsnapper Cobra, and it was a creature native only to Jötunnheim that had accidently ended up on Asgard six centuries ago. Loki had adopted it as a child.

"That thing!" The guard with his sword shouted at the snake, "Attacked us."

Slítas stuck out his tongue at the guard. Thor walked past the three and went right up to Slítas, kneeling and looking the cobra in the eye. The cobra opened his jaws slightly as if he was going to bite Thor for daring to come so near, but allowed him to strike his spine with two of his fingers.

"I'll take care of this," Thor promised the cobra – as soon as I figure out what's going on.

Slítas retracted his hood and bent down, tugging back the cloth of one sack aside with his teeth and revealing a bit of green. He moved as Thor pulled the sack open more completely. It was full of Loki's clothes.

Thor looked around. Loki's shelves were void of his books and his closet was empty as well. They had Loki's stuff. He looked up at Slítas and the serpent in surprise stared back with a _'__that's-why-I- was-defending-it-Æsir'_ look.

"What are you doing?" Thor repeated the question to the Star Guard, voice icy level.

"Odin ordered us to clear this place out," The sword-bearing guard continued. "We were until that thing jumped out from a chair at us. I was about to start emptying the desk."

Thor turned furiously, and saw that there were bite marks on the guard's neck that were just the right size to be from Slítas. He was lucky Slítas hadn't used some of his venom and turned his blood to ice. Due to Loki having nightmares Slítas had learned that he couldn't sleep on Loki's bed without getting kicked off of it, and so usually slept on the chair of Loki's desk. Getting into the desk, and into the stuff in general, meant getting by Loki's "watchdog."

Thor was still trying to figure out what was going on, but some of his confusion faded when he saw the squad badges these Star Guard wore. Asgard's Star Guard were one army, but they split the more skilled members into various elite squads. The symbol of these three was a wolf head howling at a crescent moon in blood red on a field of white.

"You three are in Jaro's squad," Thor sighed and understood, remembering that Jaro had been the one to start calling Loki '_Raven Prince_.'

"Yes sir," the Blood Wolf said and finally lowered his sword.

His rank stripes marked him as a Lieutenant.

Jaro was one of the few captain's that Thor didn't like, and he didn't like Jaro's squad much either. Part of it was because Jaro hated Loki and his friends, but the other part was how the Blood Wolves operated. They won first and played fair never, and lacked honor.

"Leave," Thor snapped at them.

"What?" The Blood Wolf with the sword demanded, the rank pins on his clothing marking him as a Lieutenant.

"You are dismissed Lieutenant," Thor barked, trying to mimic Commander Vir.

"We have our orders," the Lieutenant argued.

Thor stood and raised his sword slightly. "I just gave you new ones. Go and tell Odin I stopped you if you wish, and tell him I want to deal with Angborn of the Raven Blades."

Angborn, Loki's oldest friend, led the Raven Blades. The Raven Blades were an elite squad made up only of Loki's friends.

"The Ravens aren't even a real squad," the Lieutenant gawked.

Behind him, the symbol of the Raven Blades, 'Loki's army', was on the wall. The black raven that was their symbol had its wings spread to either side of it as they arced up slightly. In its talons were a pair of twin sabers, and the raven was on a field of dark green. Loki's ravens were made of second sons, street rats, even the children of traitors. Loki had risked everything by given them a chance but it had worked. They might consider regulation optional and were known to follow Loki's orders over Odin's, but their skill was unchallenged.

When Angborn, their Captain, realized Loki had taken the raven for his own personal symbol, he and the other members of the squad had made their symbol a raven as well and started calling themselves Ravens. In a wolf pack, if one was weak, he was left behind. In Loki's "flock" of ravens, they took care of each other.

"Get out," Thor repeated, stepping over to the Lieutenant.

Even if it was three-on-one odds Thor was one of the best swordsman in Asgard, and they would get in serious trouble for fighting with intent to harm Asgard's only prince.

"At least the Ravens won't be around much longer," the Lieutenant said with a huff as he stormed out, the other two Wolves in tow.

Thor shoved Loki's door closed behind him. He had heardthat Odin was going to disband the Raven Blades, but Thor still didn't understand why. They were unorthodox and acted like vigilantes half the time, but they were likely some of Asgard's strongest warriors. Why would Odin disband Loki's ravens? The question was the answer. He would do it because they were _Loki's_ ravens.

Thor slashed the air once with his sword, but stopped before he hit something. Odin was trying to erase Loki, to pretend he never existed, first his room, and now his Ravens. Why go so far? Loki was still alive!

He sat on Loki's bed numbly and let the sword drop to the ground. Slítas abandoned guarding the bags and slithered over to Thor, aware of his distress. Gently, he nibbled on the prince's hand with his fangs retracted. Thor stroked the cobra again. For most of this past year Slítas had been with the Raven Blades during the day and spending the night in Loki's room. It was now a fortunate thing that he did.

"You miss him too, don't you?" Thor asked Loki's serpent gently.

Slítas, his intelligence supposedly up to an Asgardian's level, looked at Thor for a moment sadly. His crystals were a dark depressed green color. He laid his head on Thor's lap.

"I'll get him back Slítas," Thor promised. "I'll bring Loki home."

Slítas didn't look up, and Thor didn't blame him. He had promised to protect Loki already and failed. What right did he have to make another promise?

* * *

Thor sighed as he watched the Raven Blades finish clearing out Loki's room and take the belongings inside. They believed that Loki was still alive, and were going to hide Loki's things rather than let it be destroyed. He was grateful he'd manage to find one of their squad.

"Sir," one of the Ravens said.

Thor glanced up, "Angborn. Thanks for coming."

Angborn Eirillson nodded, and his move was both angry and sad. "Of course sir. It seems like Odin, doing this."

"He's going so far," Thor whispered, "I don't understand why."

"I understand why he's going to disband my squad soon," Angborn told him.

Thor looked up, waiting for Angborn to speak.

"The Raven Blades were created by Loki, that's one point against us. The second, we uh, have been known to follow Loki's orders instead of Odin. The killing stroke is that Odin didn't even want this squad. We did so much when we fought in the Celestial War and became so popular that he had to make us official, but he never wanted us as a squadron and now that Loki's not here…" Angborn fell quiet.

Loki had been alive eleven months ago when he had given Thor the bracelet, but who knew if he was still alive. Thor waited until they were gone with nearly all of Loki's stuff before closing the door and locked it, leaving Slítas on Loki's bed. Slítas could come and go from the room as he pleased somehow, so Thor didn't mind locking him in.

Then Thor left to have lunch by himself.

* * *

**Angborn is an OC, but he is the one Asgardian with unshakable loyalty to Loki, even after New York. Loki grew up on Asgard and I thought it weird that everyone turned against him so easily except for Frigga and Thor. What? He doesn't have any friends? Angobrn and the Raven Blades are those friends. Yeah, as you probably guessed the Ravens and Wolves are going to clash.**

**What do you think about Slitas? Loki always struck me as a snake person so I gave him a snake. Slitas is native to Jotunnheim and Loki's Jotunn, get it? Please leave a review with an opinion. **


	4. Only Child

Thor traded his sword for Mjolnir after lunch, and walked to Bifrost. Heimdall had said it would regenerate itself in time, but for now it was little more than a broken bridge to nowhere. He walked right to the edge of it, and stared into the Void Loki had fallen into. If he fell into the same Void would that mage who had Loki find him to? Earlier, Thor might have seriously considered stepping off Bifrost, but now he simply stared at the stars.

"Jaro said you forced his men away," Odin spoke as he walked up behind Thor with Gungnir in hand.

Thor knew that Odin would find him, and so wasn't surprised when he answered without turning to face him. "I did."

"He is gone my son," Odin sighed.

Thor felt the bracelet in his pocket, its charms warm from all the magic Tilaria had stored in them. "Say his name."

"Hmm?"

"Say his name," Thor repeated, and turned to face Odin. "You act like it's a curse. Loki, his name is Loki."

"You should stop speaking about him in the present tense," Odin corrected.

"He's not dead!" Thor shouted before he could stop himself. "How many times do I have to tell you that he's still alive?"

Odin shook his head at Thor's comment as if sad Thor was making it up, and that upset Thor.

"What did Loki ever do to you Odin?" Thor demanded, deciding to say Loki's name as much as possible as if the repetition would remind Odin Loki _had_ a name. "Why do you despise him? Loki is your son just as I am. All you want to do is pretend that Loki never existed. Did you hate Loki because he forged his own life as a mage? Was it just because Loki was the younger son?"

"He is not my son Thor!" Odin boomed, cutting him off. "Just as he is not your brother. The only thing I hate was that I was foolish enough to thing I could raise a Jötunn on Asgard!"

Thor's mind froze, and he didn't respond for a long moment. "What?"

Odin sighed, realizing he what he had just said. "At the end of our war with Jötunnheim I found Loki abandoned in one of their ruined temples, left to die. Laufey did not want him, likely because of his small size. When I picked him up, his form changed to the illusion that he looked Æsir. I used Gungnir to trap him in the Asgardian illusion and brought him back rather than let him die. You have no brother Thor, and never did."

Thor stepped back, and his step faltered when he realized he couldn't back up any more without stepping off Bifrost. His father's words rang in his ears, but Thor couldn't acknowledge them. It wasn't possible. There was no way Loki was one of those Jötunn monsters!

His childhood with Loki came back in a rush. Loki's ice magic, Slítas a serpent native to Jötunnheim, how Loki never got cold, how natural he was on the ice. Even that time he had gotten sick after their trip to Jötunnheim as children, and the virus hadn't appeared to be Asgardian in origin. It had been Jötunn in origin, and since Thor wasn't Jötunn he couldn't get infected. Now that the truth had been said, Thor could pick out hundreds of times that Loki had acted Jötunn without even knowing it.

Thor turned sideways, looking into the Void while keeping Odin in his peripheral vision.

"Loki attacked Jötunnheim," he whispered in sudden realization. "Did you say Laufey?"

"Yes," Odin nodded, and spoke in a monotone voice. "Laufey was his father. After your trip to Jötunnheim from your failed coronation, you fought many Jötnar. He must have begun to suspect his true identity, so he went into my Weapon's Vault and touched the Casket of Ancient Winters. Its power broke my imprint that kept him looking Asgardian, and restored him to his natural form."

The words 'after your trip to Jötunnheim' attacked Thor. If Thor hadn't gone to Jötunnheim, then he might still have his brother. Ah, how fortunate for Asgard that his coronation had bene interrupted.

"Why did you not tell me this last year?" Thor asked in a voice that cracked.

Odin didn't answer.

"You weren't going to tell me, were you?" Thor felt drained, exhausted by the depths of his father's betrayal. "You weren't going to tell anyone. You were just going to let me, let everyone believe that Loki was a monster who acted out without reason. Only he had a reason."

I understand you brother, at least a little bit, I understand. Odin never approved of you and you wanted his pride ever so desperately. When you found out you were Jötunn you must have become even more desperate and thought that you could prove that you were a son of Odin first and a Jötunn second, so you attacked Jötunnheim.

"Where is Loki?" Thor asked harshly.

"Dead," Odin shrugged.

Thor reached into the pocket of his tunic and withdrew Tilaria's charm bracelet. "As I've told you, Loki had this with him when he fell. As I slept two months after his fall I had a nightmare and he gave this to me. When I awoke it was still in my hand."

Something in Odin's eyes looked annoyed that Thor was pressing this point still, and there was some knowledge in them that made Thor's heart drop even further.

"You knew," Thor whispered and curled his fingers around the bracelet. "All this time when I was saying Loki was still alive you told me he was dead, but you still knew he was alive."

"He was under the protection of the Chitauri, a race outside the star cluster of the Nine Realms." Odin explained finally.

Thor remembered the mage cloaked in shadow that had attacked Loki in the nightmare and felt anger make his heart beat faster. "You said was. Where is Loki now?"

Odin saw no reason not to tell him and so said, "Midgard."

"Midgard," Thor breathed.

Loki was so close, just a world away. If Bifrost was functional then he could go and bring him home at last.

"He has already killed 80 humans," Odin warned, "and attempted to kill many more."

"K-killed?" Thor stuttered, and then denied flatly. "No. Some decades Loki spent more time on Midgard then he did on Asgard. He would never hurt it or its humans."

"He is not the same as before. Now, he is a criminal and a murderer," Odin droned without the slightest care in his voice.

"No Loki's not!" Thor snarled with sudden vindictiveness.

Loki was still lashing out from finding out he had been lied to his whole life. Thor hadn't realized what was happening with Loki when they fought on Bifrost. If he had then Loki might never have fallen. He needed to help his brother, and bring him home as he had promised he would.

"Send me to Midgard," Thor ordered.

"Thor…" Odin sighed.

"D it Odin!" Thor spat, suddenly unable to bring himself to call Odin his father. "Some things are more important than blood. I don't care that Loki's Jötunn. He is still my brother and I will not abandon him. I can't believe you want me to leave him on Midgard while he's still hurt so badly. You raised us believing the Jötnar were monsters. How did you think Loki would react when you found out he was one of them?"

He tightened his grip on Mjölnir. "I don't blame Loki for what he's done one bit! He interrupted my coronation, and I'm glad I did for I fear what would have happened to Asgard if a spoiled brat like me became its king. Going to Jötunnheim was just another part of my stupidity. He-he's stubborn; he'd never believe he's still my brother, so I need to tell him myself."

Odin shook his head at Thor's stubbornness. "He is in the human's custody, aboard a SHIELD jet now in flight."

"I-don't-care," Thor pronounced each word through gritted teeth, not recognizing the word SHIELD in the slightest. "I know you have enough power to send me to Midgard, so send me!"

Odin sighed, unsure. The bond between Loki and Thor was unnaturally strong. The fact that Thor still kept this loyalty to Loki even after everything Loki had done of late proved it. It might be possible for Thor to bring Loki back to his senses and Odin knew Thanos would be annoyed if he lost his general.

Yet, Thor would never stop pestering him, "fine."

Thor closed his eyes and raised Mjölnir to the sky. Lightning struck it and carried down to Thor, changing his civilian clothes into his armor. It was a trick Loki had shown him long ago. The lightning faded and Thor turned back to Odin.

Odin had had a feeling that Thor would press the issue and so he had come prepared, and tossed Thor a pair of restrainer cuffs. "These are customized to suppress of his magic, including his Jötunn ice. Bring him back."

Thor held the handcuff like restraints, keeping his features blank with effort. Custom huh. Odin had never put so much thought into Loki's presents before. Odin raised Gungnir. The air glimmered black around Thor. This is, Thor realized, this is _dark magic_. He disappeared.

When Thor got to Earth he was not in the mood to deal with the humans of SHIELD so he just boarded the quinjet and dragged Loki out of it. Of course, his attempt to lecture Loki just after that was interrupted by Tony Stark and Steve Rogers and the events of the _Avengers_ (2012) movie occurred.

It is when Loki is brought back to Asgard after New York that things get interesting.

**THE END**

**To Be Continued In…**

**'****2 Shadows Of the Past'**

_Post-Avengers. It is two days after the events of the Avengers and 30 years after Loki's love, Tilaria, disappeared. Loki has attacked Midgard with a Chitauri army at his back and lost. His sentence is execution. When things can look no darker, they do. The Celestials, an ancient race whom Asgard has fought before, are back with a new – and familiar – general._

* * *

**I think there's still some confusion about the plot of this story. It is exclusively from Thor's POV. The first chapter takes place at the end of the movie when Loki falls, the second two months later, and the third and the fourth right before/during the _Avengers_ movie.**

**Readers, if you are reading this then there is a chance you have read "_A Different Kind of Courage_" as well. I plan on making _Shadows of the Past_ better then that, so consider this a heads up.**


End file.
